The Racial Tension in 1964
Who’s to Blame?
CTL 201
Selected History Topics for Primary School
Name: Mardiana Binte Mohamed Amin
NRIC: S8232166G
Matriculation number: 047079L08
Programme: Bachelor Of Arts (Education)
Year: 2004
Tutor: Dr Kevin Blackburn
Day/Time of tutorial: Tuesday, 2.30 pm- 4.30 pm
The Racial Tension in 1964 - Who’s to Blame?
Introduction
Singapore began its road to independence after the Japanese surrender to the
British in 1945. However, this journey was plagued with numerous challenges. One such
challenge faced by the government was the development of racial cohesiveness among its
people. This was vital, as the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy that the Japanese adopted during
its rule in Singapore had caused some people to be suspicious and wary of the different
races. Due to the fragile bond between races in that period, it was of a no surprise that
there would be racial riots in the history of Singapore. The year before independence was
fraught with tension between the Malays and Chinese.
As the 1964 racial riots was one of the major events that had shaped Singapore’s
history, I was very interested to know more about it. However, after doing my initial
research, I discovered that there were a lot of factors that caused this riot. With the aim of
wanting to know more about these factors, I asked my grandfather, Mr H. Ismail, to do
me the honour of being the interviewee for my oral history. Thus, the questions that I
asked my grandfather were mainly to elicit the information about the reasons that sparked
the 1964 riot. Fortunately, I was close to my grandfather and this resulted in him being
very open and comfortable in answering all my questions.
(A) Profile of interviewee
Mr H. Ismail is born in 1924. Both his parents were migrants from Java. Mr H.
Ismail has 2 elder brothers and 2 elder sisters. He became an orphan at the age of 15
years old. He married my grandmother in 1955 and lived in Mount Faber. During that
time, my grandfather worked as a signalman in the Singapore Harbour Board.
When the racial riot occurred, Mr H. Ismail was forty years old and had three
daughters. My mother was eight years old, my first aunt was six years old and my second
aunt was four years old. At that time, Mount Faber was a Malay dominated area, thus,
they were not really affected by the racial riot.
(B) Summary of the 1964 July Racial Riots
On July 21, 2004, during a procession as a celebration of the birthday of Prophet
Mohammad, a riot between the Chinese and Malays broke out. The riot started at Kallang
Road. Within two hours, the riots spread from Geylang area to the city. The widespread
riots happened in 12 separate districts and continued for 5 days. The riots caused 22
deaths and 454 injured while 256 were arrested for unlawful assembly and rioting.1
Curfew was enforced from 8pm to 5 am.
The above scenario depicts the life during that period. To have a clearer view of
the whole picture, I will analyze further in terms of the reasons for the start of the riot and
the effects of the riots. I will discuss these aspects with reference to the interview and the
historical sources that I have found.
(C) Events that sparked the riots
Mr H. Ismail recalled that the riot broke out when the procession was marching
towards Arab Street. He also said that the riots started when a Chinese man threw a bottle
at the procession. This was apparently not the case in historical books. According the
research, the riot started at Kallang Road, near the Kallang Gasworks around five in the
evening. It started when a group of young Malays broke away from a section of the
procession. This group of young Malays refused to heed the order of a member of the
Federal Reserve (police sent down from peninsula Malaysia) to join back the procession
and instead assaulted this policeman. Then, more groups became unruly and attacked
1
Cutterbuck, R. (1985) Conflict and Violence in Singapore and Malaysia 1945-1983
Singapore National Printers (Pte) Ltd
passers-by and innocent bystanders. According to Mr Lee Kuan Yew, by 7.30, the riot
broke out in the city itself.2
(D) Reasons for the 1964 July riot
1. UMNO and the Malay Extremists
Mr H. Ismail told me that the main reason behind the racial riots in 1964 was the
politics surrounding Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Mr H. Ismail was under the
impression the UMNO did not like Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s way of handling Singapore. He
also thought that the UMNO wanted to win over the Malays’ support and they did this by
telling the Malays that the PAP government did not care about them.
There was some truth between the information gathered from the oral interview
and the actual events that happened. According to the actual information gathered from
historical journals, it’s true when Mr H. Ismail said that there are three main factors that
contributed to the racial riot that happened in July 1964. All of these factors resulted in
the rise of Malay sentiments and hatred towards the PAP government, especially towards
Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who did not see the need to acknowledge the constitutional rights of
the Malays in Singapore.
One such factor was Syed Ja’afar Albar, the Secretary-General of UMNO. He was
responsible for arousing the Malay sentiments, through his speeches. According to Mr
Lee Kuan Yew in The Singapore Story, “ [Syed] was a great rable-rouser, skilful in
working up the mob and, as I was to learn, totally ruthless and unscrupulous in his
methods.” This perspective of Mr Lee Kuan Yew was accurate as Syed’s role in stirring
up the communal disturbances was very apparently ruthless. He used the media who was
bought by UMNO to his advantage. He used the Malay newspapers, Utusan Melayu, to
2
Fernandez, W. Teo, H.L Lee, S.L Lee, G.B, Thomas, A.E.C. (2000) Memoirs of Lee
Kuan Yew: The Singapore Story (Abridged Edition) Times Media Pte Ltd.
convey his messages. As the Utusan Melayu was printed in the Arabic script, the
information was limited to the Malays.
Members of Singapore UMNO were also responsible in stoking up the Malay
passion. Although H. Ismail remarked that that there was only one of the speeches that
was made at the Padang that sounded political, history shown that speeches made by
SUMNO leaders during the religious rally at the Padang were political in nature;
regardless of the unspoken understanding speeches made on that day must be religious
and non-political. For example, SUMNO’s religious officer, Syed Ali Redza Alsagoff
gave a speech saying that Malays must come together to fight for their rights. Another
example was the speech given by SUMNO’s Secretary-General, Syed Esa Almenoar,
where he said that the teaching of Islam was that Muslims must sacrifice their lives for
the sake of the country and whoever works towards disintegration of the country would
be treated as traitors.3 There could be two reasons for this discrepancy. Firstly, Mr H.
Ismail could have been withholding the information to prevent me from blaming the
Malays extremists. Secondly, it could be that he had truly forgotten the events that took
place on that day. However, I suspected the first reason to be the main factor as Mr H.
Ismail was a supporter of UMNO.
The presence of Malay extremists also fuelled the Malay sentiments. However,
this factor was not mentioned by H. Ismail. It could be due to the fact that he did not
receive any leaflets. Groups such as Kesatuan Kemajuan Islam and Pertobohan
Perjuangan Kebangsaan Melayu Singapore were giving out leaflets that further flamed
the Malay sentiments. The leaflets given be these groups were similar in nature because it
urged the Malays to work together to eliminate the “dictatorial Chinese PAP Government
led by the wretched Lee Kuan Yew…because the PAP government does not want Malay
Sultans…[so] we should wipe out all the Chinese from Singapore soil…[to prevent them]
from making a fool of [us]”4
3
Fernandez, W. Teo, H.L Lee, S.L Lee, G.B, Thomas, A.E.C. (2000) Memoirs of Lee
Kuan Yew: The Singapore Story (Abridged Edition) Times Media Pte Ltd.
4
Lau, A. (1998) A Moment of Anguish: Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of Disengagement
1. Mass Media
The role of the vernacular press also was at fault in driving the races further apart.
Mr H. Ismail did mentioned briefly that one method that the UMNO employ to win the
Malays over was giving speeches through newspapers and television. One influential
form of media, The Utusan Melayu, was frequently printing articles, casting a bad light
on PAP and Lee Kuan Yew, when he did not acknowledge the constitutional rights of the
Malays. This can be seen when the Utusan Melayu printed an article on May 23, 1964
where the PAP government “of inciting non-Malays to demand the abolition of the
special rights of the Malays.”5 From this quote, the Malays were portrayed as the poorest
and the least unsuccessful among the communities in Singapore. The Utusan Melayu also
twisted Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s speeches to just to win the Singaporean Malays over. For
example, in one of his speeches, Mr Lee said, “40 per cent of Malays in Malaysia cannot
drive away the 60 per cent non-Malays. The Utusan Melayu [twisted] his speech and
reported [it] as: Those able to drive others away from Malaysia are the Chinese and other
non-Malays and those who are driven away are the Malays because their numbers are
very small.” This showed that the Utusan Melayu was prepared to print falsehoods as
long as they can win the Malays over by making them hate PAP and Mr Lee Kuan Yew.
However, in the interview conducted, Mr H. Ismail defended both UMNO and Utusan
Melayu by saying that it was not a deliberate attempt and it might be due to the fact that
the reporters were misinformed about the situation. However, I still suspected that Mr H.
Ismail deliberately did not want to cast any bad light on the UMNO because he supported
the party.
2. Indonesian Influence
Mr H. Ismail also recalled that the Indonesian government had also caused the riot
by sending some people to Singapore to stir up trouble. However, Mr H. Ismail did not
5
Fernandez, W. Teo, H.L Lee, S.L Lee, G.B, Thomas, A.E.C. (2000) Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew: The
Singapore Story (Abridged Edition) Times Media Pte Ltd
have primary evidence to support his statement. This was because he might have gathered
this information from reading newspapers or watching television.
However, it seemed that there might be a grain of truth to what he was saying.
During this period of time, Indonesia was facing a series of major problems such as
economic perils and corruption. In order to divert the attention of Indonesians from the
problems the country was facing, the government tried to create chaos and disorder in
Malaysia. This period was also known as the Confrontation, where Indonesia opposed the
formation of Malaysia because she was eyeing to conquer Sabah and Sarawak in East
Malaysia. According to The Singapore Story, “Sukarno also made a radio broadcast
urging Singapore Chinese not to support Malaysia, which had been formed to oppress
them.” This showed that Indonesia was also responsible in driving both the Chinese and
Malays apart. In the period from 1963 to 1965, research shown that there were 42 bomb
explosions by Indonesian-directed saboteurs. In fact, Indonesian agents who wanted to
create trouble and disrupt the stability in Singapore also caused the racial riot that
happened in 3 September 1964.
3. Malayan Chinese Association (MCA)
Another reason that H. Ismail failed to mention was the role of the Malayan Chinese
Association (MCA) in contributing to the racial riot. For example, its minister, Khaw Kai
Boh, accused that the Singapore’s Progress was especially meant for the Chinese. This
was done because the MCA was jealous of the fact that PAP was gaining the support of
more Chinese in Malaya. MCA was also afraid that the PAP might “replaced them in the
Alliance that ruled Malaysia if PAP grew in political strength.”6 Thus, similar to UMNO,
the MCP tried to create disorders in Singapore so that PAP rule would be weakened, thus
reducing its political threat.
6
Singapore: July 21, 1964 Racial Riots.
640721.htm
http://www.littlespeck.com/ThePast/Cpast-64riots-
(E) Effects of the July 1964 Racial Riots
Mr H. Ismail recounted the events and mentioned that it was one of the most
terrible events that happened in Singapore’s history. The death of his friend was a great
loss to him as his expression became wistful and somber when he told me that his best
friend died in the riot. This effect of people getting killed in the riots was greatly fell as
the death toll during the period rose as can be seen from the statistics that I have given in
the summary of the riots.
According to Mr H. Ismail, the relationship between the Malays and Chinese were
very tense. The Times (U.K) described the grim situation by saying that there was “an air
of oppression and threatening calm in the streets.” This shows that many Chinese and
Malays were afraid to venture out to the streets except when necessary because they were
afraid of bumping to people of the different race. This evident was enforced by the
interview of a 52-year-old teacher, Mr Baey Theng Mong, who recounted that “kid like to
go out to the streets and play but during the rioting times, when the curfew was on, the
streets were so quiet. The shops were all closed and it was quite scary!”7 Mr Baey also
mentioned that his parents told him to stay at home as fights could flare up anytime.
However, a retired 63-year-old teacher, Mr Tan Kim Hor recounted that he was not
affected by the conflicts because all the Malays and Chinese in his kampong community
were friends. They were only worried that outsiders would try to come into the kampong
and make trouble. This shows that people had different perceptions and experiences of
the riots.
Another effect was that the government tried hard to mend the relationship
between the Chinese and the Malays. However, according to Mr H. Ismail, the
government did little to stop the riot. He also said that, although the government had
imposed curfews, people still went out at night. Mr H. Ismail also said that people
7
A Nation Scarred. http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/neatstuff/survival/surscar1.html
continued to assault others in broad daylights. Although there is some truth, I felt the
government had employed the correct and appropriate strategies at that time. The curfews
managed to keep most people at home and this reduced the number of riots. Besides
curfews, the government also introduced Racial Harmony and National Language Week.
These measures are to promote cohesion and understanding among the various races.
Secret society members were also swiftly arrested before they could create any trouble.
According to my findings, “the police pre-empted potential trouble-makers and detained
46 people who were alleged to be involved in secret societies that had exploited the riots.
Gang weapons like bicycle chains, daggers and long knives were confiscated.” This
shows that the government treated this matter seriously, thus I disagree with Mr H. Ismail
when he said that the government did little to solve the problem.
Lastly, one major effect of the riots that was not mentioned by Mr H. Ismail was
the increase in prices of daily goods. This was because when the curfew was lifted
temporarily, people rushed to stock up the basic necessities. This led to a threefold
increase in food prices. According to an online article, Singapore: July 21, 1964 Racial
Riots, “the vendors in the market would not even bargain with the customers. For any one
unwilling customer, there were at least 10 customers who were willing to buy the fresh
goods.” The prices of taxi-fares also doubled, as buses were not fully operational. As this
effect was major, it was strange that Mr H. Ismail did not mention it. It might be because
he lived in a community where people helped one another in need. Furthermore, Mr H.
Ismail always walked to his work, which was situated in Mount Faber, near his home.
This might explain why he was not affected by the increase in transportation prices.
Conclusion
Thus, to conclude, this interview with my grandfather had enforced my notion of
the importance of racial harmony in Singapore. As Mr H. Ismail was not directly
involved in the riot, it was difficult to decide whether his interpretation of the events was
authentic enough for comparisons. At the end of the interview and from the research
gathered, it is safe to deduce that UMNO played a huge part in causing the riots.
However, other factors should also be taken into account when analyzing the reasons. I
also realized that most Malays in Mr H. Ismail’s generation are pro-UMNO because they
felt that PAP was more of a Chinese party, who supported the Communists.
References:
Josey, A. (1980) Lee Kuan Yew: The Crucial Years Times Books International
Lau, A. (1998) A Moment Of Anguish: Singapore in Malaysia and the Politics of
Disengagement Times Academic Press
Cutterbuck, R. (1985) Conflict and Violence in Singapore and Malaysia 1945-1983
Singapore National Printers (Pte) Ltd
Fernandez, W. Teo, H.L Lee, S.L Lee, G.B, Thomas, A.E.C. (2000) Memoirs of Lee
Kuan Yew: The Singapore Story (Abridged Edition) Times Media Pte Ltd.
Communal Riots on Prophet Mohammad’s Birthday. Retrieved on October 18, 2004,
from, http://schools.moe.edu.sg/rivervps/comriot.htm
Singapore: July 21, 1964 Racial Riots. Retrieved on October 18, 2004, from,
http://www.littlespeck.com/ThePast/Cpast-64riots-640721.htm
Trials and Tribulations in 1964. Retrieved on October 18, 2004 from,
http://www.knowledgenet.com.sg/singapore/SG/NR/NRTNT001.asp?next=0
Goh, J. Small Spark can Create Big Mess The Straits Times Online. Retrieved on
October 18, 2004, from http://sam11.moe.gov.sg/racialharmony/teachers_03.html
A Nation Scarred. Retrieved on October 18, 2004, from
http://ourstory.asia1.com.sg/neatstuff/survival/surscar1.html